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Tiana smiled sympathetically at the wealhty girl's plight, though the whine in her voice reminded them a lot of Lottie's when she didn't get her way. Fancy food critics weren't exactly par for the course in Godscobh, but Tiana found a fellow lover of food in Cara, even with all her eccentricities.

"Sugar, I would never lie to you," the waitress shook their head, not able to think of a single time anyone in town has just had things handed to them on a silver platter. At least, no one in Tiana's tax bracket, "I don't know what kind of brand you think I have, but the only way you'd be getting free food out of my catering business is if you come be my wait staff for the night."

"Tiaaaaaan-uh" Cara groaned, adding a little sweetness into her voice that she hoped was persuasive, "You'd tell me if the restaurants in Town gave discounts and free stuff for reviewers, right?" Cara was sort of used to bartering exposure on her social media for free stuff around town, but Tiana could be a stickler for the rules. Maybe with a little persuasion, the amazing chef would be willing to give Cara a taste of whatever new thing she was making before anyone else, "Or maybe we can strike a cool brand deal? It'd be totally lucrative."

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Tiana whisked the order away with ease, sneaking into the back of the kitchen to whip up something that might brighten up Tim's eyes a little. It's hard not to worry about it, considering their last conversation was kind of dower as well... Sure, everyone had secrets in this town, but Tiana was trying to do a better job of making friends and keeping them this time around. Maybe it was a sign to reach otu to someone new before he could close off again?

They brought Tim's milkshake out first, followed by the burger he had oh-so hilariously mispronounced, "Here's what I'm thinking, if you can finish this in twenty, I don't have to pass the table off to anyone else, and we can go somewhere after my shift ends?" Tiana offered with a supportive smile.

Tim's mouth immediately begins to water and he emphatically nods.

"Fuck yeah! That sounds delicious."

Maybe if he ignores the suggestion of talking it won't happen? It usually works with the other Lost Boys at least.

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Tiana smirked, only finding the slightest bit of humor in Adam's large frame taking shelter with them, "Well sure, but I guess... I don't know, you're not the most... open guy," The waitress chose their words carefully, not wanting to offend.

"I get it, you're not the talkative type," Distantly, Tiana knew not to take it personally. But they couldn't help but feel a little judged still, for their financial status if nothing else, "But I just gotta make sure, you're not still mad at me for ruining that suit? That's not why you brush me off?"

Adam shrugs, keeping the jacket over his head.

"There's a lot I do for work. What specifically I do depends on the time of day. Same with you if I remember correctly?"

He should probably be arranging for a ride, but he's tired, and any excuse not to think that much is worth it.

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If Tiana didn't know any better, they might start to think of themself as yet another victim of Sarah's bewitching powers. She was clearly used to getting people hanging off of every word out of her lips, even if Tiana thought they were too clever for that.

"Uh-uh, I don't go anywhere near that stuff. If magic wants to come my way, I'm walking the other direction," Tiana almost laughed, though they had to admit it was a little tempting to believe in fairy tales sometimes. Even then though, they leaned towards wishing on stars more-so than dark dreams and telling the future, "I don't really remember much else, but I think there were some other witches too... Aren't there three? And you were all shadow-y, throwing frogs and snakes in this big pot. That's one recipe I won't be trying."

Sarah's excitement drops, and she pouts.

"But dreams are so powerful," she explains. "They're our most direct connection to the universe and the powers beyond us."

She reaches forward to place a hand on Tiana's, trying to capture her attention.

"And I'm happy I wasn't an old one. Makes me feel special. Tell me more, please?"

She flutters her eyelashes.

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"Adult lesson number one: the government is gonna do whatever they want," Tiana chuckled, thinking of close to ten different ways they've all been screwed over since living in the town. While it was sweet that Vanellope thought she could avoid it, it seemed like growing up with wealthy parents kept her blissfully unaware for things like electric and water bills, "Yeah, I get it! It's organized chaos, we just gotta find somethin' that works for you."

15 bucks an hour wasn't bad - actually a little better than some of the scraps that waiting tables left Tiana some nights. The waitress jotted down a few numbers, deducting basics like Van's rent and utilities, "Well yeah, every penny counted for us back then, especially after my daddy passed. I've been where you are, I mean, and it's okay to be a little off balanced in your 20's. But I think cutting back on the candy will definitely help with your grocery shopping costs..."

"Well then I can get them on tresspassing." She teased but frowned knowing fully well the gravity of her situation. "$15.22 an hour." She said finally sighing. "Okay can we.. tape it up somewhere or something. Im gonna lose it... my budget a lot gets lost." She said truthfully. "I have a system.. its messy but its sort of a system." she folded her arms.

Vanellope moved closer to watch what she was doing. "You did all that?" She said smiling a little. "No one showed me or even talked to me about that im sure your mom appreciated it."

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"Girl, yes, that is literally what they'll do," Tiana sort of had to laugh, both with humor for the younger girl's teasing and staight-up fear for her future. Maybe Van would get away with tax evasion for a few years, since she didn't make that much, but Tiana already learned the hard way that bills could come back to bite you in the ass.

"Yes, but how much in an hour? Or a year?" The waitress sighed heavily, pulling out the calculator on their phone and a notepad, "We're gonna make you a budget, and it'll help you do better than survive week by week, I promise ya that. I was helping my momma fill out all these forms before I graduated high school."

"It kind of is though right? LIke are they gonna track me down at my apartment? . good luck finding me." She teased and groaned laying her hand down on her arms. "I know I know.. but im just trying this thing where... I just get through the week?" She chided and tilted her head frowning. She couldnt help smile back at her. Vanellope didnt exactly warm up to many people. Most were generally a waste of her time.. most of the time when she met people their whole relationship far into the future raced in her mind and if she didnt see an outcome she found desierable or it just felt wrong in her bones she didnt bother even trying, which... didnt leave her with many friends and the ones she did like.. well.. many didnt like her back

"Scarely enough to live..." She grumbled, "But its fine many people throw perfectly good items away."

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Tiana had been cooking since they were basically old enough to hold a spoon. Doing little things with dad around the kitchen were some of their first memories, and it was what made it so much easier to practically live in restaurants and kitchens nowadays. Truly, sometimes Tiana felt like they lived at the diner more than the place they actually paid rent.

"Why buy it if she's wasn't gonna use it?" Rich people... If Tiana had the money for half the stuff they stocked a kitchen with, they'd already have a restaurant, "She didn't get pulled into a Pampered Chef deal, did she?" The waitress chuckled, passing off the mixing bowl to Wendy and returning to folding butter into thin layers of dough - the perfect crossaints.

immediately wendy backed off from pouring more, straightening up and looking to tiana for more guidance. she didn't consider herself a bad cook by any means, but this was tiana's element moreso than hers. wendy thought of herself as more of an 'afternoon tea party' type of expert more than anything. worriedly, she gave the ingredients a quick once over to ensure she didn't accidentally mess anything up.

"that's okay- we don't mind tradition in this house," wendy reassured the other as she began to roll up her sleeves. "mother didn't own one of those until a few years ago and she still doesn't use it."

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closed starter // @itsinmycode

Working in the service industry for so long, Tiana knew a thing or tow. In fact, from years helping momma pay bills after James' death, Tiana had practically all the skills of someone far older, with the wisdom ( and general stress levels ) of a thousand bill-payers. Frankly, helping other young people learn the tips and tricks was all Tiana could do nowadays - even if it was extremely difficult sometimes.

"You have to pay taxes every year, Van, it's not optional" Tiana groaned, though they kept a withered smile as they helped the younger girl, "How much do you make at the arcade?"

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Southern charm wasn't for everyone, Tiana thought to themself carefully. It wouldn't do to just have Tim slumping his shoulders in the booth all night though, especially after their last conversation had been such a downer.

"I'll make you something extra special then, sugar, how does s'mores sound? We're not supposed to do it, but if I add in the lava cake from the dessert menu and the marshmallows from the sweet potato casserole, it tastes like the bomb dot com," Tiana jotted down everything on their notepad, then returned to see Tim's still downtrodden expression, "And when I get back, you wanna tell me all about what's got you down?"

Tim lets out a quiet laugh at the ridiculous but somehow wise words. He looks up at Tiana.

"No offense to your mom, but I don't have a lot of reasons to smile right now. But I appreciate the sentiment."

He looks down at the menu, forcing himself to pick something.

"How about the Jala-At-Ya-Peño Burger with fries, and the most tooth rotting milkshake you can make?"

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The minute the jacket is out of their hands, Tiana isn't sure if they'll ever get it back. Or maybe Adam would be so disgusted at clothes from Goodwill bins, it would burn his skin. But he puts it on without incident so... maybe that should count as a win?

"Oh, I work at Cal's up the road, it's just a dive bar," Tiana shrugged, not really sure how to read the men's stony stare, "You know, sometimes I think you're tellin' a joke with the way you talk. Or like the joke's on me for not knowing what you mean by 'business'."

Adam scowls but takes the jacket. Instead of trying to put it on over his larger frame, he holds it over his head as a makeshift umbrella.

"Business," is all he offers as an answer. "What about you?"

He looks over their layers and feels a twinge of jealousy but he tries to keep it off his face.

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"Oh, of course not, not a crow's foot in sight," Tiana chuckled as they wiped down a few counters and glasses, "It was just so silly, I usually don't remember my dreams at all if I'm so dead tired! Maybe it's a sign that the sleep deprivation is finally doin' me in."

If the play wasn't so well known, Tiana might not have had any idea how to interpret the dream, if to interpret it at all, "I never believed in all that dream-predicting stuff, though anyways, I'm sure you'll stay young and beautiful forever."

Sarah brightens. Seems not everyone in this town is as dense as bricks to the truth. Maybe some of their unconscious knowledge is finally seeping out.

She giggles as she responds. "'Double, double, toil and trouble.' Hopefully I'm not a decrepit old one that can barely stand up straight."

She shudders remembering the rare instances she and her sisters had gotten that far in age.

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Any anxiety Tiana had felt over giving Danny his Christmas gift months late was quickly washed away with the way his face lit up when opening the bracelet. It was just a small thing, of course, but Tiana always felt that handmade ( or hand-cooked ) gifts were the best ones, and they were very glad the Rooneys agreed, "It was buried in my old dresser, I don't think I'd touched 'em since freshman year!" A decent side hustle back then, selling the colorful strands for pocket money. Not particularly sustainable nowadays though.

"If I'da known how much you wanted to, I would've given you the whole box! Hold on," Tiana fumbled through a few of her kitchen cabinets, which held all sorts of junk and loose pieces the apartment had no other place for. It wasn't the whole kit, but a good fistful of the flat, colorful cording pieces that Tiana had leftover from the visit to their mom's house, "Here, pick your colors and I'll tape them to the coffee table to start."

"Wait - You're telling me you've had bracelet-making stuff...THIS WHOLE TIME?!" Danny's brows shot up, clearly caught between being excited and offended. "And you never said anything?!" So many wasted, bracelet-less years. He probably could have had the craft mastered by now if he'd been given the chance, he was sure of it.

He turned his wrist, looking at the bracelet from different angles, admiring her hard work. "Do you think I could learn? Like, you could teach me?" He smiled, silently appreciating how lucky he was to have someone make something just for him. "I wanna make you one back."

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"Baby, dark and cold is how it's always been, but I like your optimism," Tiana laughed as they sheltered behind Arley's much broader shoulders. Even if the town was going to be dreary for a little while longer, at least there were a few folks to surround Tiana with that missing sunshine, "No, no, I'll be fine. In fact, I think I'm setting the feminist movement back 5 years right now." Then again, Arley did assume the role of a brave protector very fittingly, so who was Tiana to strip him of it?

"Oh, let's go in there!" Tiana wrenched a hand from the warmth of Arley's freshly brewed coffee to point out a local fast food establishment with a children's play place attached. Perfect for hiding out with no one bothering them, "Think they'll make us buy something?"

"You kiddin? I love you walkin' behind me. Means if they sneak up on me, they get you first!" He teased, leaving it open as to who 'they' were. In reality, it didn't bother him at all. Growing up, he usually had at least one of his sisters hot on his tail, so, it made little odds to him. "Do you think the weather's ever gonna let up? It's been dark and cold forever now! I mean, I know Spring is on its way, but, is there any way we can...y'know...hurry it up a bit?" He was trying to keep things light, but he still worried about her. "Do you want my jacket? Might help you get some warmth going."

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“It serves me right for wishing on stars. The only way to get what you want in this world is through hard work.”

kaitlin's 100 favorite female muses — 4/100: Princess Tiana

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Since the start of the year, Tiana had been trying the stop rushing around like a chicken with its head cut off. Taking fewer hours, trying to stay in touch with people better. So far, the plan was not working, and not really plausible with bills ( and bosses ) breathing down their neck at the top of each month. Especially on slower nights, they just tried to make the most of talking to folks as they came through, since Tiana probably spent more time with customers than their actual mom.

"Sugar, you look like someone just about drowned your cat in front of ya," Cal had sent them over to make sure Tim wasn't loitering, but Tiana could guess by appearances that he wasn't feeling so hot, "My momma always said life was short, so smile while you still got teeth."

where: diner | when: late night | whom: @eveningstcr Tiana

[ 𝐋𝐀𝐔𝐆𝐇 ] My muse attempts to make yours laugh when they are sad.

Tim is sitting in a booth in a diner. It's late night and he hasn't ordered anything but the water glass in front of him. He doesn't even know why he's here. It's the middle of the week and he didn't have any plans.

Well... maybe he did have plans that he wanted to make but couldn't. Earlier he'd gotten the craving for a milkshake. And a craving to share it with Lorcan. But of course they can't. Not tonight, and probably not ever.

His fingers hover over the keyboard of his phone, debating on what to text Lorcan.

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Tiana was usually stuck taking public transit after long shifts, and the bus schedules were almost always thrown off by weather and construction this time of year. So, with the choice to either wait at a bus stop while the rain got worse or make the harrowing trek home... Tiana was just about as stuck as Adam was. And like it or not, the waitress tried to extend an olive branch in a crummy situation.

"That would make you about 10 feet tall, sugar. I've got layers, I'll be fine," Tiana rolled their eyes, still holding the jacket out. It was just an old leather piece, a hand-me-down Tiana's mom had dug out of the closet for the cold months, "What got you out this late? I thought you had a driver."

where: town streets | when: night | whom: @eveningstcr Tiana

"Here, take my jacket. You look cold."

Adam pauses in his walk down the sidewalk, surprised by the voice calling out to him. He turns to see Tiana holding out their jacket to him. He hadn't planned to be out this late, not to mention it had been a warm day so he hadn't packed anything heavier than the thin sweater on.

He glances between Tiana and the jacket suspiciously.

"Thanks but I'm pretty sure I'm twice your size and mass."

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Tiana wouldn't normally have time for idle chit chat on the clock, but with enough coffee in their system to keep them awake for several more hours, they liked having someone to talk to during the night shift.

"Oh, just silly stuff," Frankly, Tiana's dreams could get pretty weird when they were sleep deprived and only budgeting 1-2 hours between shifts, "I dreamt you were one of those Shakespearean witch types, with a big bubbling cauldron to brew potions in, or somethin'. Luring Macbeth to the... Well, actually, I'm not sure. Never read the play."

where: bar | when: night | whom: @eveningstcr Tiana

"You keep showing up in my dreams."

Sarah had taken to coming to the bar whenever Tiana works because she enjoys their company. She likes watching them in a version of their element, even if it's not the ideal version. She'll often just sit at the bar, accepting drinks and food from men that are trying to flirt with her. Sometimes she'll thank them how they want, but not often enough to make it too easy for them.

Sarah is surprised by the admission from Tiana, blinking as she processes it.

"Really?" she leans forward. She's heard that line before but from Tiana it feels more genuine. "What kind of dreams?"